


Rolereversal

by Chronosynchronicity



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Child Abuse, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Gore, Horror, Not between Danny and Vlad though, Role Reversal, Younger Vlad, older Danny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-16 05:39:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3476528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chronosynchronicity/pseuds/Chronosynchronicity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Rolereversal AU) The Masters Family is Amity Parks pride and joy except for the littlest Master whose filled his head with ideas of ghosts and the paranormal. The Fenton Family are the town lunatics. But is everything really alright in that dollhouse the Masters call a home? When Vladimir Masters ends up in an accident that leads to a downward spiral Daniel Fenton’s initial idea of being the boys mentor has turned into a belief that he has to take the boy in as his own. After all who better to raise him than someone who’s suffered from the same condition for 14 years?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is role-reversal so it's older Danny and a younger Vlad. I always thought the idea of a role-reversal with those two would've been a lot of fun so I started thinking and somehow ended up writing a story? There will be several oc's since they never really expanded on Vlad's family in the show and they do have some main parts in the story, nonetheless I'll try to keep it to a minimum since the focus is on the relationship between Danny and Vlad (which is more father/son than shipping, I honestly don't think that'll change but if it somehow does I'll give warning way ahead of time). The M rating is going to be for violence, gore, and child abuse (not between Danny and Vlad).

Amity Park. A small boring little town that was placed in the middle of nowhere. Normalcy was the sole theme and anyone who tried to break out of that standard would quickly be shunned by its citizens. Small wooden houses were lined up row by row separated by a sole street that passed through the middle of this town. It was a winding road that moved with the landscape and if you continued driving down it you may pass a few houses that were located on the outer radius of this bare town. Looks however, are the most deceiving of factors and the second that Vladimir Masters set his eyes on it he could sense something amiss. He brushed a finger across the cold frosted glass of the window creating a hole just large enough to look out of. People didn’t seem to like being out and about in this town. Every window and door was shut, as if each home and family were in their own little world. Of course it could also be because of the weather. It’s the middle of winter and it was freezing outside. Vlad placed a cheek against the glass flinching at the slow burn he received, ‘I hate winter.’ he mused. He turned towards his grandparents and noticed the weary look on their faces. Despite their age they had always been there for him, even if their demeanor was generally cold Vlad knew that he had it pretty good compared to others.

Now Vladimir had always been a little nosy when it came to matters, whether they were small or large but he never questioned his grandparents on his family. It just didn’t seem to be of importance until about 4 days ago.

-

“Albert. Albert!”

“What is it Aneta?!”

Vlad had looked up surprised at his grandmother’s abrupt entrance. She was never one to particularly bring herself to be eager. Usually her head seemed to be permanently upturned, her eyes giving everyone a dismissive glance before getting back to her business. Today however, it seemed as if her calm had shattered and replacing it was a mild shock along with an enthusiasm that Vladdy had never even imagined possible for the old madam. She ran up to his grandfather and took his hand placing an envelope into his palm with a giddy expression. The boys grandfather, also getting over the shock of seeing his sternly wife practically jumping with excitement, soon returned normalcy to the household by holding his wife’s hand until she seemed to realize how improper she must seem. He then went about turning his attention to the envelope. Opening it up he began to read the script and if Vlad were tall enough at the time he would have been peering over his shoulder to see what all the ruckus was about. The boy was startled out of his skin when his grandfather abruptly stood as well.

“This is. It can’t be.”

“But it’s his handwriting and the family seal is on the front. It has to be!”

“Who is it nanna?”

They both looked down and stared for a moment realizing that yes the boy was actually there. It was often forgotten that there was another Masters living with them. They seemed to snap out of their revere and both turned their attention back to the note then back to little Vlad Masters.

“Sweet child. It’s your parents.”

Vlad cocked his head, a little confused, “ My. Parents..”

“Yes yes your parents.”

Vlad seemed to lose focus a moment, looking down in quiet contemplation.  
His grandparents worried that the news was too much for a 6 year old.

“But, I thought they had left for the other land.”

His grandmother was the first to speak up with her mannerism back to its controlled pattern. 

“Yes well they’d gone back to your mother’s family… To visit. They had left you here to be taken care of in the meantime, the place they went to isn’t the safest, and now they want to see you again. Isn’t that exciting Vladimir?!”

The little boy nodded along strangely muted at the moment. His grandmother assumed it was just the boys shy nature. She smiled to her husband who just grinned in response kneeling next to Vlad.

“You’re going to be with your family again!” he exclaimed, grabbing the boy lightly on the shoulder. “It’ll be alright. You don’t have to be shy.”

Years later Vlad would learn that it wasn't that his family went to visit. They simply could not afford living in the US. They were young and foolish and way in over their heads. In order to survive they had to give him up to his fathers parents and move back in with his mothers. Masters after all did not look after mistakes.. It seemed they had been able to create a successful business in that time and were finally able to return.

This of course was irrelevant to a child however, especially one who felt as if he were being separated from his true parents at the time. When the car stopped he jerked forward, the seat belt pressing against his chest and saving him from flying out the windshield. 

“We’re here sweetie!” His grandmother announced, not having completely calmed from receiving the letter. It’s not that they particularly found Vlad to be a burden but they were much too old to be taking care of a child. Here he would be provided for better they told themselves. 

The house they came up to was rather large. Well in comparison to the other homes. Two story but, just as dull as the others. There was a small yard in the front, like all of the rest, and a small white fence separating it from the others. When his grandparents picked him up from the back and set him down on the concrete he felt a creeping fear now that he looked at the home. Not that he wasn’t curious about his missing parents but, he was never one to particularly like change. He didnt want to leave his home and despite all the assurances he received he felt dread walking up the white sidewalk towards the house. With its rickety wooden banisters and shut drapes it felt just as empty as all the other homes. While lost in his musing he hadn’t even realized his grandparents had led him towards the door until they rang the doorbell. He quickly tried to hide behind them but was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder. So when Mrs. Masters opened the door what she saw was a lovely elderly couple and a small child that looked like he would rather be anywhere else. She had to look again at the couple, for confirmation, before daring to look down at the little boy. 

“Nickolai! NICKOLAI! Get down here! Oh my goodness how big you’ve grown!” She knelt down almost immediately, despite the pencil skirt of her casual attire, hugging the child lightly. She was a lovely woman, and Vlad would grow to love her dearly. Smelling of honey and flour he could see where his rather long silky hair came from. It draped around her face, and tickled his cheek, accenting her pale almost flawless skin. She pulled back and he noticed her bright blue eyes. His grandparents were beaming and his mother brushed his hair back trying to see more of his face. This all came to a rather abrupt end when his father appeared. 

Now Nikolai Masters used to be a rather joyous man, years of labouring and work put an end to that leaving a man who one would only refer to as refined and behind his back a prude. Every movement he made seemed to need a purpose or he wouldn't move at all. Standing ramrod straight and haughtily tall his hair was short and brushed back, also a deep ebony. Thicker than his wife’s stringy black hair. His cheekbones higher, elegant is what one would say, while beautiful referred to his mother. Not a hair out of place, his dark blue eyes seemed to always look down at you critically. Overall, he seemed like a man made for business. And when he looked down at his only son after all those years of wondering how his heir would appear its safe to say he was disappointed.

Vlad would realize that this did not only apply to his general appearance, although that was a huge factor in it. His hair which was just as beautifully silky as his mothers was not nearly as carefully tended to which left strands to fall over his ears and face despite having brushed it back and placed in a ponytail. He was a frail thing looking like he’d break in half if you hugged him too hard and his wide blue eyes did not have that critical gleam of his fathers but a constantly startled appearance. The only thing that really allowed him to even be considered masculine was his greek nose which was similar to his fathers. His pale skin made him appear like a ghost without the aid of blush that his mother applied to her own and his clothes although classy as all Masters are, were skewed and wrinkled. 

This only took his father about a moment to assess before the look vanished and he knelt down on one knee with his mother. 

“Vladimir.” 

He held a hand up and Vlad found himself almost turning around for confirmation before lightly accepting the cold handshake. His father seemed to begrudgingly accept this and hugged him as well. 

“Well it’s been a long time and your mother is right you are big now.” He stated, rather matter of factly. His grandparents looked at their son with a disapproving gaze but there wasn't particularly anything they could do about his behavior. After what Vlad would describe as an agonizingly long chat between the two pairs of adults his mother picked him up and they waved goodbye to his grandparents. 

He never saw them again.


	2. Family Feuds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Masters have a legitimate reason to be afraid of the Fentons, it'll come up later, but just a heads up. And sorry if the characters are ooc.

It was now Vladimir Masters 14th year of being alive and Vlad had seen his fair share of the strange and unusual. However, nothing nearly as dramatic as what his best friend Jack was excitedly explaining to him. 

“I’m telling you Vladdie! I saw a ghost! And my dad caught it!” 

Vlad let a doubtful groan get past his lips and rolled his eyes. 

“Jack. I know you believe your dad is the greatest ghost hunter ever, but I highly doubt there are even such things as ghosts!”

Jack Fenton, or well the Fentons in general are for lack of a better phrase the town lunatics.  
Vlad had seen his fair share of his fathers anger. Or well more accurately had been the outlet for the fair share of his fathers anger, but never had he seen his father more livid than when he saw even a hair of the Fenton family. Which is why Vlad has taken to spending as much time as possible with the Fentons. 

They lived in the farthest house in the town which was the only one that really stood out in this boring boring little town. It was three stories tall with a proud willow tree overhanging it, as if it tried to hide the home from anyone but its family. Atop this home stood a satellite and a small observatory. Yes its about as weird as it sounds and about five times as creepy. The wood moaned when you stepped on it and the tall wooden pillars that held it up had scratches and symbols carved into them in some ancient language. Vlad often wondered if Mr. Fenton had designed it this way to see if it attracted the paranormal. He’d never seen a ghost and truthfully didn’t believe in them. Despite that he did love to visit. The Fentons were the complete opposite of the Masters. A creative atmosphere surrounded the home and science was approved of in the highest degree, which was excellent for Vlad as he really loved the subject.

As they approached the house, which incidentally or more like unfortunately, was right across the street from the Masters perfectly neat and normal home Vlad gazed at the familiar rickety wooden porch and banisters with a feeling of belonging. 

Despite Jack being Vlad’s best and only friend he had never been inside of the Masters home. Even Vlad with his deviant streak knew he’d never live if he brought a Fenton over, so they spent about 90% of their time at Jack’s house. Sometimes Vlad’s dad could be seen peering out from the top window of the house glaring disapprovingly at him as he walked into Jack’s house. The boy in response would just turn around and give an audacious wave, smiling back at him like right about…. now. Yep. That never gets old. His dad gave him a rather nasty sneer and shut the blinds of the window. Vlad did know that this would result in a cuff of the ear later, but as stated before his deviant streak was brought up whenever his father was involved. Only around his father however, as he hated the idea of being controlled by the man. He was in actuality a rather careful and observant person. Good at reading people too, he’d add proudly. Manipulation ran in the family. 

“Dad!!! Dad we’re home!” Jack bellowed.

A loud crash was heard from downstairs and a moment later a tall man covered from head to toe in green gunk and soot came charging up the stairs. At the moment he looked utterly ridiculous but Daniel Fenton was a bright man. Like Vlad’s father he stood proud and tall similar coloring as well with black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes but that's where every similarity ended and all the differences began. His hair was never pulled back and always framed his face nicely, bringing out his cheekbones. This would be lovely if his narrowed eyes didn’t always seem as if he had been punched in the face. He never particularly slept is what Vlad guessed at. His bangs were not straight or to the side but rather just lied there against his forehead cut asymmetrically. Strangest hair one would ever see really. At least, in this town. He wore a lean black jumpsuit thin white wires travelling along his frame. This was similar to Jacks bright orange and black jumpsuit except, well nothing is more atrocious than orange and black so it suited him much better. Honestly, it kind of looked like they watched wayy too many science fiction movies. Jack continuously assured him however that they are actually safety precautions which is why Vlad had to put on a white and black framed one whenever he entered the home. His dad would probably shoot Mr. Fenton on the spot if he ever saw what he placed on his son.  
“There you go!” Daniel stated giving a bright smile at seeing both of them in jumpsuits. He leaned down a bit and gave them both a rather warm welcome back hug which Vlad did not resent despite the green and black gunk getting on his jumpsuit. 

“So we all know what today is, right?”

“Of course! I mean pssshhh how could we ever forget!” Jack replied brightly, it was obvious though that he had no idea what it was as he turned to Vlad for help. Vlad simply nudged him in the ribs and spoke up.

“You were going to break the wall between the paranormal world and the human plane of existence.” In more normal terms meaning he's been building some crazy portal in the basement for years now and is finally going check if it works. 

“That is absolutely correct you little weasel.” He mussed up Vlad's hair and turned around pointing towards the basement. Vlad always found the nickname to be irritating beyond comprehension. It shows Daniel knows a lot more about him and his personality than he’d like, it also means he’s okay with that. Vlad was never really sure which won out in the end.

The two boys practically pushed each other out of the way trying to climb down the narrow stairs. Eventually they somehow managed to get down together and both stood quietly behind Mr. Fenton as he began to mess with some switches and test some gauges. Vlad felt a nervous twinge of fear go through him as he stared at the large doors of the portal. It looked like a huge metal death trap, truly something out of a Frankenstein or science fiction movie. Danny was grinning so wide it hurt Vlad's cheekbones to stare. He seemed to be absolutely enamored with his creation and the pride on his face was hard to mistake. Finally he flipped the last switch next to the portal and a loud siren went off alerting that it was turning on. Jack had just as much pride on his face as his father and Vlad stood amazed as the machine whirred to life. Gauges and sensors lighting afire as electricity lit the room up. Everything was going perfectly! Until the moment it wasn't. In a sudden burst the glass bulbs that surrounded the entrance of the machine shattered and in the split second that it happened Danny had grabbed hold of both of the teens and covered them behind one of the lab tables as the lights blew out and the room turned black.

It was at this exact moment in time the Masters household was entertaining guests. Actually the Mayor and his wife themselves. Nikolai was not only the next running candidate for Amity Park’s mayoral election but is highly esteemed in the community as a businessman and inventor. The advancements he makes in farming technology are not only used in the town but throughout the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa. He was a rather proud man at this moment in time. 

“And now Mayor I would be honored to show you my electronic model of the newest highly efficient ethanol bio-refinery.” 

The man felt a light perspiration on his brow since this was finally FINALLY the moment he would prove to the mayor that he is the best political candidate to choose.  
He almost felt the beginnings of a smile grace his lips. This all ended in one of the fastest and most devastating ways imaginable. The electricity blew out. A loud shriek came from the mayors wife as the light bulb on their ceiling shattered and the house was set into a dark void. It wasn’t only this house however, the entire towns lights had blown and everyone was in a mild state of shock and panic. All except for the Fenton household, which was melancholy to say the least.

Vlad and Jack sat quietly against the wall as Mr. Fenton looked despairingly at his failed project. If you hadn't known any better you'd say the man was on the verge of tears but despite all the tragedies the Fentons had survived through Jack had mentioned that his father never wept. Today that didn’t change, but it didn’t mean the man wasn’t miserable. He seemed to age considerably in that moment without his smile and cheer. He fiddled with a few wires and switches before seemingly giving up. 

“I’m sorry kids. I-I I haven’t. It didn’t work.” He whispered. 

Both of them looked briefly at one another the melancholy being contagious. They both knew how long Mr. Fentons been working on this project. Vlad felt an especially strong sorrow for the man as he’d been announcing the projects completion for several months now with everyone mocking him behind his back about it. 

“Dad. Dad it’s alright. I mean it’s probably just a small mistake. You can always try again.”

Danny looked at his son and his lips seemed to upturn for a moment but the expression passed and he shook his head lightly turning to trudge up the stairs. 

To add to the already dour mood in the home. There was a sudden pounding against the door that was almost deafening.

“FENTON. FENTON I KNOW THIS IS YOUR DOING. I swear to you if my son is in there and harmed because of your lunatic projects I’ll have your ass hauled straight to a mental institution!” 

Mr. Fenton seemed to darken considerably at this. He swung the door open and leaned rather nonchalantly against the door frame. 

“Nikolai.” he stated a biting edge to his tone at the mention of the other man's name.  
“What a surprise to see you. I thought you said that you wouldn’t ever ‘dare’ to come within ten feet of this what was it you called it ‘establishment of horror’.” He gave a small rather contemptuous smile in the other mans direction. 

“That’s absolutely correct. The only reason in the world that I would ever step on this filthy satanic playground of a land you have here is because my son is probably hiding behind this door!”

Danny seemed to get particularly amused at this statement leaning a bit closer to Nikolai and in turn prompting him to back away a bit. 

“And how would you know that he’s here? He could be at any other house. Why do you assume mine?”

Nikolai just seemed to wrinkle his nose in a rather dramatic display of disgust. 

“Do you really mean to tell me you can’t guess. I live right across from you! I can see everything from my top floor window, thats how!” he stated as if it was too much for the other man to understand. At this Mr. Fenton replied with a mock shocked expression.

“DO you mean to tell me you’ve been watching me from afar? Why I’m flattered. Really. Though I have to say you’re not my type. ”

Jack had to keep a hand over Vlad’s mouth as he almost let a bark of laughter slip out. Both of them hid behind the door with large grins plastered on their faces. Masters looked like he was going to explode from rage but was restraining himself, rather poorly, as to not create a scene. He grabbed the front of the man’s jumpsuit and pulled him off of his door ledge practically hissing.

“You listen to me you son of a bitch. I don’t ever want to see Vladimir anywhere near the likes of you or your son ever again. If I have to issue a restraining order I will! Now HAND HIM OVER!!” He pushed Danny away from him causing the man to stumble back. Despite it all Danny’s smile never seemed to leave his face. 

“Alright! Alright! Sheesh. Touchy much. Vladdie! Your daddys here.” He called upstairs, despite knowing he was actually behind the door. 

“Hm. Well you’re going to have to wait a moment, they must be listening to their music.” 

“NO I WONT-” the door slammed rather abruptly in Masters face and a pounding was heard from the other side. Danny sighed dramatically and quietly headed over to Vlad and Jack pulling them into the kitchen. 

“Well I’m sorry Vlad. Your dad seems to be in a nasty nasty mood. You might have to come over at a time that's more convenient.” He stated with a wink. He brushed a hand through Vlad's hair which brought a smile to the boys face, before becoming a bit concerned. 

“Are you going to be alright?” he asked, with a careful tone. Jack seemed a bit confused at that and Vlads smile dimmed a bit as he nodded lightly.

“You don’t have to worry about me Mr. Fenton. I know how to handle my dad.” He said adding a confident tone at the end. 

They got Vlad out of his jumpsuit, those things are rather tricky to get out of actually, and handed him his backpack and textbook before saying a short goodbye for the day seeing as Vlad’s father was practically breaking the door down. 

Finally Danny opened the door and Vlad was practically dragged out of the house in Masters hurry to leave. 

“Have a good day!” The Fentons waved and Nikolai just glared back tensely before slamming his door in hopes of getting the image of their faces out of his mind. Once inside his house he had to stop for a moment to calm himself. 

“This day couldn’t have been any more of a disaster.” he ground out. He placed a hand lightly against his forehead and leaned his back against the door hoping to slow his breathing. Instantly Aine seemed to sense her husbands distress and brought him a cup of water. 

“Nikolai you really need to take a breather. What are we going to do if you suffer a heart attack?” she teased. Nonetheless it was easy to hear the worry hidden in her voice, it warmed his heart (sort of) to know she cared. But then he spotted his son tip toeing upstairs.

“Hold it.” 

It worked instantly and Vlad froze like a deer in headlights. The boys eyes shifted towards the stairs then back to his dad as if he was deciding which situation would be worse. In the meantime his father had managed to rein in most of his anger and walked over to the staircase grabbing the kid by the ponytail and dragging him upstairs. 

Vlad didn't put up much of a fight knowing it'd just leave his head much more sore than it’ll be, and didn't particularly find it shocking when he was just thrown in his room. He landed on the floor with a thud and Mrs. Masters silently sighed downstairs. She looked down rather miserably at the kitchen table but didn’t move. It wasn’t because she didn't love her son and it wasn't because it was right. Sometimes she wanted to smack her husband right on top the head and often she did she hated to see her baby boy hurt but, today was different. She peered out of the kitchen window to the house across the street and felt fear wash over her. She turned away from it quickly, shutting the blinds and locking the door. It was for the best is what she told herself, when she heard her husband shouting -and when a deep sense of remorse set in.

By this point the sounds of books being thrown against the wall and picture frames shattering on the ground was almost commonplace. When Vlad's father had finally managed to get ahold of him he twisted his arm and tugged him over to look at him directly. Vlad continued to tug and kick glaring hatefully at the man.

“There is nothing wrong with the Fentons dad! Why do you keep on insisting they're lunatics! You haven't even really talked to them!”

“You don't- You wouldn't understand Vladimir! Its not safe to go to that house!”

“Maybe. Just maybe I’d listen to you if you actually told me why!?”

“You just!” his father threw his arms up and seemed the strangle the air for a moment. “Why dont you ever just listen to me! I’m not trying to play a dictator here, I'm not trying to be the bad guy but you've practically made it your goal to ignore everything I try to warn you about! Have you ever considered that I don't want you there because its dangerous? Have you ever considered that I’m worried about you?!”

Vlad seemed to stop for a moment and let a sad expression pass as he glanced at his arm before shaking his head and continuing to glare unflinchingly at his father.

“No. I haven’t.”

There was a deafening silence after that statement. 

“Well I’m sorry then.  
You’re not allowed to see either of those two ever again. If I do see you around them you better believe I’ll make good on that restraining order, and if that won't stop you I’ll ship you to a private school and be done with you. Do you understand me?”

The shocked expression on his son's face was enough of a confirmation and he ignored the broken one that replaced it. Nonetheless he decided to place emphasis on his decision gripping the boys arm a little harder.

“Do you understand me?!” 

“Yes Father.” 

He let go at this point and found himself glancing at the boys arm, the pale skin was matted with a new bruise and he bit his lip at the sight. Vlad had sunk to the ground by this point and just sat there very still, pointedly looking away from his father's direction. The man in turn looked away from his son and slipped out of the room locking it tightly. Later on in the day Vlad ignored the small ice pack that appeared by his bedroom door and simply continued lying in bed, thinking of everything and nothing.


	3. The Accident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are gonna start picking up~ This chapter was a lot of fun to write.

High school is the worst. Period.  
Despite all the preaching given about how important it is Vlad was only able to see the downsides. Maybe this is because he could never seem to get a break. Really it wasn’t that he was unpopular though, it was that his only friend was. This in the end apparently made him a loser as well. 

When this was pointed out to him by Neil Calloway, the son of one of his fathers acquaintances, he simply flipped him off and turned away from him. He would rather take Jack’s opinion, however ridiculous it could be, to any of his classmates.  
Jack was the only person who was always honest with him and maybe that’s why Vlad was able to put up with all his mess ups. Sadly that caused Vlad a huge amount of problems when it came to working on experiments. 

Amity Park didn’t have many aspiring scientists. It was too small to need any.  
In fact it was so small that there was only one high school. 

It was impossible not to know everyone.  
Vlad however didn't particularly care for the student populace, they were all cookie cutouts of one another . So the parasites that usually followed Calloway were always just leach number 1, 2, and so on to him. 

Today however, he found that he didn’t mind the idea of school so much after two boring days stuck at home. 

It’s been two weeks since his Dad declared outright war against the Fentons and Vlad never thought it was possible to be this bored. He actually contemplated double checking his homework, that’s how bored he was.

“Well jeez Vladdie I didn’t know your dad had such a problem with us.”

Vlad gave Jack a look of disbelief, “Are you serious? My dad seems to have a personal vendetta against yours. I have no idea why and he doesn’t tell me why. EVER.” He lifted an eyebrow to see if Jack had an explanation but all he got was a shrug in return. Honestly Jack could be so oblivious.

“Maybe it had to do with something from a long time ago?” Jack replied.

“Ugh. Maybe….” Vlad had turned quiet at this and seemed to think carefully about how to word his next question. “So. How’s your dad been…” He didn’t need to elaborate further as Jack’s entire being seemed to become glum at the thought. 

“Well he’s been worse..” Jack gave Vlad a little smile but it fell and he seemed to know that Vlad wasn’t buying it anyways because he started again, “I don’t know what to do. I’ve been trying and trying to cheer him up. At night he just sits on the couch and stares at the tv. For the entire night!”

Vlad seemed to bring a hand up as if to begin saying, ‘Well that isn’t so bad.’ but was stopped before he could even start.

“It’s never on.”

The taller boy winced at this and just lowered his head.

“And that’s just the beginning! Lately I’ve found him trashing blueprint after blueprint and…. He even threw away the Fenton Toaster Vlad. He said that it would probably just ‘malfunction’ at some point anyways. Most of the time he’s just locked in his room. When he does come out its only to make me something to eat, then he just disappears again...”

Jack’s glum seemed to have become contagious by this point because Vlad looked equally as miserable by the time he finished. He knew it was a harsh blow to the Fentons. For as long as Vlad had known them Mr. Fenton had always been working on this project. Sure he had several side projects which he loved to demonstrate to them but from what Jacks told him this portal has been something he’s worked on from before Jack was even born. 

He let out a small sigh and they both turned their sights pointedly ahead now as they maneuvered around the crowded hallways of Casper High. 

Class was as boring as ever and as time passed and the subjects switched Vlad found himself almost passed out in his chair from sheer boredom. 

“-this economic depression was the largest of its time and the product of World War II. MR. MASTERS WOULD YOU CARE TO TELL ME JUST HOW WIDESPREAD THIS WAS?”

At the mention of his name Vlad’s eyelids seemed to instantly snap open and in his rush to catch what the teacher was saying he slammed his knee on the bottom of his desk. He bit his lip to keep a curse from getting out and glared heatedly at Calloway who made the most smug, pompous, stuck up UGH. Vlad didn’t even think that type of expression had a name so he just called it Neil’s ‘holier than thou’ face.

Everyone else outright laughed at him. 

“Well Mr. Masters?

“Ughmmm. Uhh..” the boy stuttered, trying to remember what they were going over today.

“I’m waiting.”

“Could you repeat the question…” he finally asked, resigning to his fate. 

Mr. Spencer just shook his head and asked Neil to answer instead, knowing full well that this would just piss Vlad off. Vlad and Neil were the only people who really understood half of what came out of the teachers mouth and the man knows full well the best way to get either of them to buck up is by pitting them against one another. 

Fucking Calloway of course just ate this up answering immediately.

Vlad stayed awake the rest of the class simmering in his seat as Neil and his groupies (the kids of all the other politicians in town) kept glancing at him and throwing papers at his head all giving him helpful advice on how not to ‘wet his pants’ in front of the teacher. 

Jack glared at them from his seat seeing if by sheer will both of their combined anger could magically make the boys spontaneously explode.

-

Nothing says sweet relief like the bell signaling the end of school. 

Everyone seemed to make a mad dash for the door with Vlad and Jack being thrown to the very back of the line. Not that it mattered anyways. Both of them knew how this whole thing was going to work out so they slowed their walking pace to avoid the inevitable. 

“It kinda blows that your dads picking you up from school now.” Jack grumbled. 

“Tell me about it..” Vlad grit out, not really wanting to go back home to help his mom cook or to listen to his dad explain the importance of learning the crop of trade again.  
He’d rather go to Jack’s house to help him cheer his dad up. Something that was actually important. Still, no matter how slow they went eventually they reached the front of the school and had to pretend yet again that they never even noticed one another as Vlad’s family Cruiser was coming into view. He came to loathe the bright blue car. 

\- 

Vlad could honestly and truthfully admit that if he weren't so pathetically desperate to get out of his house at the moment he’d feel really really embarrassed by the fact that Jack had to climb up the side of his house at 2am to help him escape. What is this Romeo and Juliet? It didn't matter that they’d been planning this escape for over a week now Jack had to practically carry Vlad down because he was afraid of heights. As soon as they touched the floor though Jack practically crushed his friend in a hug and they both ran off rather wildly over to Jack’s place. 

“Okay so you got the blueprints?”

“Yeah I was able to save them.” Jack whispered hoarsely. They were both sitting in his living room at the moment, in their jumpsuits, and huddled around a small flashlight. Mr. Fenton had decided not to leave his room tonight which, although concerning, was a good thing for the two boys who had a plan brewing at the moment. 

“These don’t look so difficult…” Vlad replied, a blatant lie on his behalf. Despite all the time that Danny had spent trying to teach Vlad and Jack about the mechanics behind his inventions Vlad still couldn’t even decipher over half of what was on the paper. Nonetheless he was Vlad Masters. This meant he never gave up, not when it’s already gone this far. If either of their parents even suspected what they were about to do they’d be grounded for an eternity and Vlad would probably be in military school at the moment. 

With a shaky breath he got up, Jack following suit, and both of them went down to the basement. 

-

“You know Jack.. Maybe just maybe we should wait a while. Maybe we should just study the blueprints yeah?” Vlad’s bravado seemed to have vanished with the enormity of the task at hand. The room was literally pitch black with the only light coming from their small flashlight and the monitors. 

Jack looked at Vlad, his expression practically defining the word miserable. 

“I can’t. My dad’s been getting worse and worse Vlad. I can’t just leave knowing that there might be something I can do.”

“Jack I doubt we’re going to be able to do anything about it! Your dad has studied this for years!! And he still wasn’t able to!” Vlad practically hissed. He was feeling more and more unnerved by the second.The small echos of whirling gadgets and machinery were the only thing he could hear past the sound of his own heart beat. 

“You can leave if you want Vlad. I won’t make you stay but I gotta do this. My dads in trouble and I’ll be damned if I sit and do nothing.”

Vlad was biting his lip hard enough for it to split by this point. He shut his eyes for a moment and thought back to all the times that Mr. Fenton had been there for him as a mentor or even a friend, well adult friend that was more dadlike really. And found despite how crazy this was the thought of Jack watching his father deteriorate from depression for years to come was worse. Honestly there’s no way that this’ll result in anything, but at least he could say they tried. He let out a trembling sigh and grounded himself looking back up with visible determination.

“Alright. But Jack you gotta promise you’ll let me handle all the technical work.”

Jack seemed to snap out of his melancholy at this and looked over at Vlad as if he was the crazy one. 

“You can’t do this alone.” he stated. 

Vlad gave him a hard glare at this, “Jack you know for a fact that I’m better at the more technical aspects in any project we ever get up to! You’ll just end up tripping on some wire and we’ll both be in trouble then! Let me do this.”

Jack had an internal debate about this trying to weigh the pros and cons. He opened his mouth ready to call off the plan because really who was he kidding. This is absolutely crazy.. He closed it last minute however, the argument dying. 

“If you’re sure Vladdie.”

They both gave each other small nod and Vlad looked towards the large metal doors of the portal his legs beginning to buckle under him. 

He gripped the blueprint as if his life depended on it in one hand and the other held his flashlight. Gazing into it.. it’s like he was about to walk into a black hole. Jack stood by the control panels ensuring that the machine was deactivated and gave Vlad the thumbs up, signalling that everything was checked. Vlad brought out the flashlight and slowly walked into the machine with about as much caution as he could manage. It was at an agonizingly slow pace that he entered the tunnel. All around him were wires that dangled from the ceiling of the contraption. Knobs. Gears. Switches. He became frightfully pale at the sight of it. Once he got to about the center of the tunnel, his flashlight slipped out of his hand. Vlad was absolutely sure he was going to die at that moment and almost cried about the injustice of it all. He’d always be remembered as the idiot who died by dropping his flashlight. As a minute passed and he felt nothing but a slight chill Vlad opened his eyes and was glad to see that he was not dead and that the flashlight had just clattered to the ground. 

Now really this was unbelievable. In fact looking back at it Vlad was pretty sure he’d laugh at this sometime in the far future because it was only through some miracle that he even spotted this. There was a cord, it was small and ridiculously high up, dangling right next to its socket. Disconnected.The flashlight had landed on some wires and this allowed it to tilt just high enough to light the ceiling of the portal. Mr. Fenton must’ve missed it because of how many of these were running throughout this machine. ‘Is this the reason it didn’t work?’ Vlad smiled as he looked at it and a deep sense of relief came over him. At this point he probably should have just returned to Jack with the good news, or better yet, have gone upstairs and woken up Mr. Fenton to tell him the news directly. Pride does something to a person however, and the pride that came over Vlad at this moment was one that he couldn’t seem to let go. He looked at the cord with determination evident on his face and carefully tread past the wires and cords crisscrossing the floor of the machine. He made it to the wall of the portal and with bated breath stepped lightly onto one of solid pipes running from the side of the machine into the floor. After checking to see if it’d hold he then placed his other foot on a pipe larger than his arms width. This one he found to be just as solid so he reached an arm up to grab for the cord. He reached and reached and finally grabbed it and plugged it in easily. 

He should’ve watched where he was placing his hand. 

It took all of a second. 

And it cost him so much.

He watched in a state of slow moving horror as the second pipe holding his foot untwisted a fraction of an inch and threw him off balance. His hand in that instant slid across the surface of the machine desperately trying to find a grip and it did on the only knob sticking out of the wall on this side. A siren went off and he lifted his hand to find it was on the on switch. He had fallen on the floor by this point and the most horrifying part of it all was hearing the portal doors slam shut. He didn’t hear Jacks screaming, or his banging. 

If he had to describe it, it was like having the skin on your bones seared off strip... by strip…. He might as well have been declared deceased at that moment because he would rather have been dead. It was slow moving and agonizing. He could feel it move beneath his skin, beneath his muscles, and nerves, and like a poison it seeped into his very bones. It spread. Across every nerve, molecule, and back up towards his skin once it had finished circulating through him.  
He was slamming his hand against the door a moment ago, he mused, as he looked up at it from the floor. Was he choking?  
He couldn’t breathe.  
Was it the shock?  
At some point he was crying but he couldn’t be sure, his vision was shot, simply a mix of black and red by this point. He looked at his arms that lay sprawled out at his side and with his dimming sight briefly thought about how very unnerving the sight of burning flesh was. It seemed to bruise and crack until it became a ghastly black and blue. Once it all became numb his entire being seemed to quit, he lost all awareness, blacking out.

 

It’s all my fault. I should have been more careful.  
This was the only thought that seemed to pass through Daniel Fenton the moment an ear piercing scream rang throughout the house. He wasn’t even sure how he got to the basement but when he did it had already passed ten seconds and the scream had become an agonized wail by this point. Every monitor was lit a bright red and he pulled his son out of the way as he gripped onto the lever next to the door.  
It wouldn't budge.  
At this he simply gripped both ends of the closed door and tore at it. He wasn't even sure if it cracked but he continued to pull and pull it apart until he could just barely see through a sliver. If he were a weaker man he would have probably screamed at the sight he saw. A hand reached at the sliver from the other side and tore, just as hard. With the pressure he heard the portal give a shutter and the door gave way just a bit more. Instantly the hand reached out and by this point his son was long gone having paled and fainted. The arm clawed at the door and it was blue, and black, and oozing a sickly pink from cracks and splinters in the skin. Danny gave a shudder before gripping the arm as tight as possible and phasing the body through the door. He toppled over as the dead weight fell on him. The last thing he heard before the room was thrown into a black void was the sound of the portal doors locking once again.

The man lay there for a moment, seemingly in a state of unadulterated horror and shock before making a show of sitting up as fast as is humanly possible. He gripped the young boys shoulders and felt a wave of nausea and a sob tear through his throat. It, it didn’t feel like a boy. It didn’t look like a boy. He couldn’t- he forgot how to breathe at that moment. He brushed a hand through the boys hair and had a very startling realization. 8 years. 8 years is how long he’d been watching this boy. Watching as he grew and became a young man right alongside his own son. Taking care of him as if he were his own, and at this realization he let a few tears trickle down his face. And let a sob wrack his body.  
His hands were trembling as he set the body down and reached to see if he could feel anything. Any kind of movement.. a heart beat, a flutter of an eyelash, anything. But the body just lay there and at some point he’d have to admit to himself that there was nothing beneath his fingertips except the feeling of his own erratic heartbeat. He was about to give up. He was about to let his mind wander to the thoughts of what after but a flash of light startled him out of these thoughts. He watched with a guilt riddled expression as two rings pulled apart to leave the familiar face he had known for those 8 years. And a new more devastating challenge was left for him. 

-

He had made sure to check everything. He checked the boys circulatory, respiratory, and nervous systems. Checked the boys heart, his lungs, brain, but there was nothing wrong. Nothing seemed out of place. Except he knew there was and staring at a nucleus with his microscope confirmed it. Once this was done he had picked the boy up and placed him back in his bed knowing there was nothing he could do at this point. Before he left however he made a promise to himself. He wouldn't let anyone hurt Vlad for this. He’d make damn sure the first person that came hunting him would disappear because despite the tragedy that just occurred deep down he knew that this was a sign. Surely he’d make a better father figure than Nikolai? Who better to understand Vlad’s condition than someone who’d be living with it for 14 years. And with that the man flickered out of the room.


	4. Intangible Changes

Vlad woke up with a start, his throat dry and his head screaming at him. He hardly lifted it before he felt pain rack his entire body and surprisingly or well unsurprisingly, considering his age, he ended up simply wailing for one of his parents to tell him what’s wrong. Now Mr. Masters despite being prudish and cold did in fact love his family, or so he thought, so when he heard his son screaming he imagined the worst and ran out of bed.  
He wasn’t prepared for when he opened the door.  
White…  
His sons hair was white? He took a second to process this before coming to his bedside and trying to calm Vlad down. 

“Vlad. Vlad listen to me, what happened?” he asked softly.

His son didn’t seem to hear a thing he said because he simply tensed even more and gave his dad a pained glance.  
Which broke his mother’s heart, who was standing by the door with a frightened expression. 

“Nikolai. Nikolai call the doctor!” she screamed as the man stood there rooted to the spot. She placed a hand lightly against her son’s head, noticing immediately that he was feverish. She didn’t even want to broach where the cracks on his skin came from. Vlad looked ill at the moment with his skin even paler than usual and his eyes red and irritated. At this point the boys father snapped out of his revere and contacted the doctor immediately, who was over just as fast.

“I’m sorry Mr. and Mrs. Masters. The only ailments I can diagnose him with are his fever and the aching he keeps telling me about.. It could be fibromyalgia but seeing as he’s so young I’m pretty sure it was caused by an intense straining of his muscles..or well it could also be caused by lightning. I asked him whether he did anything reckless last night and he told me that he can’t remember. He said he just woke up like this?”

“But what about his skin doc. The boys a cracked porcelain doll! Is it natural, unnatural? What could have caused that?” Surely his son didn’t leave his room last night he would have heard the front door open, unless the boy somehow found a way to get over his crippling fear of heights...

The doctor had a rather tired expression at this. 

“It’s due to an extreme dehydration of the skin. I’ll get him some strong moisturizer. It should heal up in a few weeks”

“But if he said he never got out of bed?! And it wasn’t that way before last night!” Mr. Masters looked alarmed at this thought and finally sat down next to his wife at the kitchen table.

“Well the boys 14. At that age they forget how important water is for the body. If he wears long sleeves most of the time he could have been hiding it”

Mrs. Masters seemed to be going through several phases of disbelief because she gave the Doctor a rather hard glare at the suggestion. 

“My son is a responsible young man! He’d never let himself get to a state like that!!”

“I’m not saying he did. Just that it’s a possibility. Aside from his skin however I’d advise lots of bed rest and try to see if you can get him to walk a bit in the afternoon. I gave him some medicine for the fever but he’ll need to drink it again in a few hours. If it persists. Have a good day.”

The doctor was out the door in the next several minutes leaving the Masters family in a state of worry and anxiety.

For the next week n a half Vlad was kept in bed with his parents badgering him about what happened.  
His dad especially.  
The man was persistent and was thoroughly convinced by this point that this was all Daniel Fentons fault.  
His wife however, thought this was ridiculous and didn’t stop in telling him so.

 

“Nikolai! We haven’t seen the man for weeks! God only knows what goes through that head of yours sometimes. Stop making crazy assumptions based off paranoia!”  
Mr. Masters usually just grumbled under his breath about this and went to check on his son again.

Vlad on the other hand had no idea what the fuss was about. Sure on the first day he felt like he was burning from the inside out but by the next day he felt perfectly fine! His parents were just being paranoid. 

“And I’m really fuc- fudge fudging, tired of you trying to dye my hair dad! If it didn’t work the first 4 times then its not going to work this time!”

Nikolai just gave his son a puckered expression at this and tried tried again. This time he spent the entire night sitting next to his sons bed to ensure he didn’t wash his hair out or re dye it white. Despite this he had dozed off at around 4am and then woke up only to see a head of white hair again. 

Vlad just gave his dad the same disgruntled expression that he’s been giving him for the past week.

Despite all the unwanted attention at home, never in a million years would he have prefered school. Come next Monday he really wasn’t ready for the stares.

He walked into school and it was like a ghost suddenly appeared. Everyone went deadly silent and stared. Vlad lowered his head at this and walked a little faster.

“Hey Masters!”

Not now. God not now. Vlad turned and of course it was none other than Neil. The bastard had a face of mock sympathy as he came up placing an arm around his shoulders.

“So. I heard about your little accident.”

“Accident..?”

At this Vlad looked briefly alarmed, its been nearly two weeks since he woke up ill but everything came to him in bits and pieces, he could hardly remember the event himself.

“Yeah. You know if your gonna sneak off at night-” At this Neil leaned closer until he was practically whispering in his ear, “Watch where you’re stepping. I’ve heard lightning can give you a nasty burn mark.” At this he simply punched Vlad in the shoulder and laughed as Vlad nearly jumped out of his skin.

“What the hell!”

“Later Frankenstein!” Calloway just laughed at this and like a domino effect, everyone started laughing.

If he felt like a loser before it really nothing compared to being the town freakshow.

“I heard he was doing some crazy experiment and lightning hit him.”  
“Yeah, well that’s what you get for hanging out with the Fentons. Weird stuff happens to them all the time.”  
“Look at his hair! Ha! He looks like a geezer.”  
“Can lightning even cause skin to crack like that?”  
“Would you like to try and find out?”  
“Hey Vlad! Loving the new hairdo!”  
“Ew, he’s probably wearing that turtleneck to cover the burn mark I mean look at the cracks on his skin.”

He was actually wearing this turtleneck because his mom absolutely refused to let him out of the house without something warm on, his skin was doing much better lately. He grumbled at this a stalked off to class with his head lowered. Trying to blend into the crowd despite the impossibility of that task.

His teachers weren’t any better. They openly stared at his appearance in either shock or disapproval. There was a strict dress code in this school and the new hairdo he had was not cutting it. The only one in school who ever let their citizenship drop due to their appearance was Jack, and Mr. Fenton supported this full heartedly seeing as he hated the idea of constraining his son to a dress code. Oh god Vlad muttered, my dads going to explode.

It was when the lunch bell rang that he could finally relax a little. He brought his small bagged lunch to his usual table at the very corner of the cafeteria. Jack was already there a look of guilt plastered onto his face as he glanced at Vlad. 

“Oh god. Vlad I’m so sorry! I didn’t know this would-”

Vlad cut him off with a quick upturn of his hand as a brief moment of anger came over him. He couldn’t remember everything but he knew for a fact it had to do with Jack’s crazy plan to fix his dads portal. The taller boy let out a sigh however and plopped down with his lunch. He couldn’t just angrily dismiss his friend. He didn’t even really know what happened.

“Okay Jack, shoot. I can’t remember a thing.”

His friend looked surprised and wary at this. He remembered what his dad had told him this morning and threw a question back at Vlad.

“Do you.. have you felt anything else since that day? Anything strange?”

Vlad gave him a quick roll of his eyes and replied with, “Do you really think my parents would have let me out of the house if I didn’t feel well?”

Jack gave him a nod at this but continued to look wary.

“Well if you do my dad asked me to tell you it’s important that you mention it. Either to me or him.. He feels really terrible about all this.”

Vlad just looked irritated by this point.

“Yes but why?! I kinda need a fill in on what happened!”  
“You really don’t remember?” Jack looked surprised by this. “You got electrocuted.”

“WHAT?” Vlad shrieked.

 

Jack slapped a hand over his mouth trying to cover the outburst.

“Shh. God Vladdie do you want to draw even more attention?”

Vlad pressed his lips together urging his friend to go on.

Jack continued, “We were trying to fix my dad’s portal and.. well you told me you wanted to handle the technical aspects of it. You went in and a few minutes later I heard the door to it slam shut and the thing started up...I tried and tried to open it, it was terrible. You were screaming bloody murder, I’m soo soooo sorry Vlad. God I-”

Vlad seemed to have lost his breath and was just looking at him with a dazed expression.

“How did I. How’d I get out?” Vlad whispered, his stomach turning at the knowledge of what happened.

Jack looked down at the table, “My dad got you out.. Then you went home after he checked you. He yelled at me for a good two days straight he was so mad. ”  
‘How?’ Vlad wondered. He couldn’t remember any of this. It’s probably better that way, but his parents hadn’t mentioned seeing Mr. Fenton. His dad would have been even more dogged in his accusations against Danny if he did. 

Jack looked utterly miserable in his guilt… Vlad let out a huge sigh and looked back up at him. ‘If I really did tell him that I wanted to go in alone then it’s not Jacks fault that I was the only one hurt.’ There was still a twinge of anger there but it wasn’t to the point where he’d let his friend wallow in guilt.

“It’s alright Jack. I. It’s my fault for having gone in there. And I’m fine. I mean look nothing really happened except my hair color changing.”

Jack seemed a bit reluctant to accept this but then he turned his gaze to Vlad’s hair and an involuntary smile grew on his face.

“You know, I think the white hair looks good on ya.”

Vlad puckered his lips giving his friend a look of mock anger. 

“I’ve been miserable with it. My dad keeps trying to dye it black and I get laughed at for it.”

Jack gave him a small wince. “Well I don’t know why. It’s not that bad! It makes you look different.”

Vlad just grabbed a sliver of the hair that was resting on his shoulder and glanced at it.

Solid white.

He huffed and let it go reluctantly coming back with an indecisive, “I guess..”

The two boys then settled into a peaceful calm and began eating their lunches.

“Wait, there is one thing. My dad really needs to see you. Like he told me as soon as you come back to school I had to convince you to come over.”

“That’d be great and all. But my dads being even stricter on me now. He won’t let me go anywhere without telling him.” Vlad rolled his eyes dramatically at this.

Jack looked down before suggesting, “Well..I’m sorry I gotta ask this of ya Vladdie but could you just, just for tonight come over for a bit? My dads like 100% serious he really needs to check you and I’m with him on this.”

Vlad gave him a reluctant glance but really he knew it was pretty important to get this checked..”Well alright. My dad only check in on me once at around 2am you can come over anytime after that.”

Jack had to press his lips together before he let out a small laugh. “Gosh Vlad your dad a bit-”

“Insane.”

“I was going to say paranoid. But uh, that covers it too.”

Vlad just gave Jack an exasperated look before continuing his lunch in peace.

The rest of the day was filled with more jeers and snickers but it was better now that he had Jack with him. Jack was a bit of a magnet for attention and although he felt bad about it he found himself glad that the attention on him was split.

The end of the school day left Vlad bored out of his mind as usual. He spent most the afternoon finishing his homework before he heard a call from the kitchen.

He glanced up from his book and walked over to the banister.

“Yeah ma.”

“Baby, can you help me with dinner tonight?

“But mom I’m-”

“No buts Mr. I brought you to this earth and you can’t even help me with a bit of cooking?”

“MOM. ughhh.” Vlad let out a cry of indignation before lazily heading down the stairs.

He found his mom in a bright green and gold lace trimmed apron. She had a long sleeve black shirt that was rolled up to the shoulders, and her usual black pencil skirt.

“So you finally came down to help.” His mom set down the bowl she was just whisking and walked over pinch the boys nose.

“MOMMMM.”

She let go of his nose giving him a smile. “Come you can finish whisking this for me.” She handed him the bowl and he looked down at it knowing it was soon going to be either a delicious pie or cake. Despite his protesting he did in fact like cooking. It was a science, and the only one he was allowed to participate in in his house.You had to get all the variables correct or else the reaction won't turn out. It’s relaxing..  
The boy picked up where his mom left off and whisked the batter lost in thought. His mom then began setting up the oven and took the wok off the stove. Despite his mother's’ family being largely russian turkish and his fathers’ slavic his mom had a fascination with chinese food. This wasn’t to say that it was strange that his mom liked chinese, he actually found himself liking it as well (although french was still his favorite), it was just that his mom was excellent at it. So much so it’s interesting to think she had been raised learning how to make mostly russian dishes. He was so distracted with his thoughts that it took a few seconds to actually hear the loud crash echoing through the kitchen. He looked down and found the bowl no longer in his hands but shattered all across the floor.

Mrs. Masters had looked back alarmed by the sound but then a twinge of anger colored her cheeks. “Vladimir! What did I tell you about daydreaming while in the kitchen.” she let out a sigh calming down instantly. “Are you alright baby?”

Vlad was still shocked. How did? He must’ve really been out of it. Come to think of it this has been happening a lot lately. He looked down in a bout of self anger. He’d never be a chemist if he kept on dropping everything!

“I’m fine.” the boy replied bitingly. He then bent down picking out the larger shards of glass before grabbing a towel for the batter and a broom for the rest of the bowl.

His mom gave him a stern expression but it dropped as soon as it came and she instead asked if he could just be her taste tester for the night. Vlad grumbled but complied and the night continued without incident.  
The time was 2:50am and soon, well not soon enough, he heard a knock on his window and sure enough Jack was there again. 

“You know Vlad you really have to get over this fear of heights.” Jack whispered as he strained with carrying his friend down while holding onto the gutter pipe. 

“Well, excuse me! Tell me again why I have to lose my beauty sleep tonight to go over to your place.”

“To make sure you aren’t dying!” Jack replied with a low hiss as he dropped Vlad on the ground before hopping down himself.

“Well what a horrible way to treat someone who's ill.” Vlad mocked as he helped get his friend up.

“Whatever, V-man. Let’s just get over to my place before my dad falls asleep.”

“Did you seriously just call me V-man!? And Jack, do you even think about what you say before it comes out of your mouth? Your dad hardly sleeps.”

“Nah he does. Usually I find him asleep on either the lab table or on the sofa.”

It took a few minutes to cross over to the Fentons household, mostly because the two boys kept pushing each other childishly as they raced over. When they did arrive it was to Mr.Fenton quickly opening the door and ushering them in.

Once he did the rule of thumb still upheld and Vlad got into his jumpsuit but after that the man seemed to dim a bit as he looked down at Vlad with a mixture of guilt, anger, and disappointment.

“Vladimir. How’ve you been?”

Vlad winced at the use of his full name, knowing that it meant he was in trouble.

“I’ve been doing fine Mr.Fenton..”

“Do you remember what the second rule of this household is?”

“Yes… don’t go in the lab without permission…….”  
“And why did you and Jack think it was alright to go in in the middle of the night?”

“We. We-”

“Dad! I told you already we were trying to he-”

Danny simply raised a hand up to his son giving him a hard look.

“Vlad!” he continued, turning his gaze back to the boy.

“WE just. We wanted to see if we could get it working! We didn’t know!”

At Vlads panicked outburst Danny seemed to calm down and instead looked at him guiltily.

“Well. It’s too late to enforce that rule in you. You already got hurt.”

He leaned down to place a hand on the boys shoulder and gave it a light squeeze as well.

“You really had me worried. What if I hadn’t been able to open the door?”

Vlad looked down and didn’t answer, contemplating.

“Well. What happened is in the past now. But I can still check to make sure that you’ll be alright…” He pulled a syringe seemingly out of thin air and tapped the crook of his elbow, giving Vlad an expectant look. With a sigh the boy began pulling off his glove and rolling up the sleeve of his jumpsuit.  
In the meantime Danny had gotten an alcohol pad from the kitchen.  
The man made quick work of drawing some blood then plastered a band-aid with the word Fenton written largely across it, tiny ghosts dotting the background.

 

Vlad had to wonder whether the man had no shame.

After labeling the vial Danny seemed to pause, a more calm and maybe even suspicious expression replacing the last.

“Have you had any symptoms? Or well has anything weird been happening lately?”

Jack looked at both his dad and Vlad not particularly understanding the sudden mood or situation. He guessed that Vlad didn't either because he seemed just as confused. 

“Well. Uh. Besides the first day where I got a bad fever there hasn’t been anything else really. The only change I can note is my hair color, which seems like it’s never changing back.”

Vlad gave a sour look at this and Danny seemed to perk up, covering his mouth to prevent a chuckle from getting out. 

“You look like a snow weasel.”

“Shut up you cocoa puff!”

“I get a kick out of your nicknames for me. It just warms my heart that you try and fail so hard.”

Danny’s grin was barely restrained by this point and Jack was laughing loudly.

“Cocoa Puff?” Jack asked looking at him in disbelief. 

Vlad on the other hand was turning increasingly redder.

“What!? Cocoa sounds similar to cuckoo! Cuckoo for cocoa puffs! You can’t tell me your dad doesn't remind you of Sonny the Cuckoo Bird! Especially when he goes on about ghosts…..”

“Vlad. You’ve just dug your own grave on this.” Jack got out, before patting him pityingly on the back.

Danny did the same, patting him patronizingly on the head. 

“You tried so hard.”

Vlad just slipped out of their hold stomping his foot a little and turning away.

At this Danny seemed to let go of his suspicions. 

Jack perked up and looked at his dad giving him a pleading glance which was then turned towards Vlad. 

“Hey Vladdie! You knowww.. Now that you’re over do you wanna hang out?”

“Jack it’s 3am. We have school tomorrow. Does this sound like a good idea?” he shot back.

Jack, not discouraged in the least, turned to his father to ask for approval.  
“Hey dad. Soooooo I know it’s late but Vlad can’t come over in the day so-”

Jack was cut off with a stern look that then seemed to melt away. 

“Well, I did say he could come over whenever.” 

Jack became ecstatic at this and Vlad’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “Am I the only adult here?”

Jack just nudged Vlad hard in the side before replying mockingly with the comment, “Geezer.” At which Vlad ended up wrestling him to the ground. Danny watched silently with a fond smile. He really was glad his son had such a good friend. He walked into the kitchen hearing banter in the background and got out a mug for some coffee. The moment he heard the TV turn on and the loud sound of pacman along with strings of curses and pastries muttered he sighed and took out two more mugs knowing that he’s going to be hearing from Jack’s math teacher again. 

He brought out the coffee giving both boys a mug and turned away only to freeze in his tracks as a cold wisp of air escaped from his lips. He heard a loud crash and a yelp followed by a groan of exasperation. 

“Not again!”

‘Not again.’ Danny repeated internally. He didn’t need to have seen what happened to understand what was going on. Intangibility… He was shocked to say the least. It took months for any kind of symptoms to show after his accident, however, he hadn’t been blasted with nearly as much ectoplasm.. It’s interesting to see how much quicker it’s appearing with Vladimir. 

Jack ran into the kitchen coming out with some paper towels and both the boys got to cleaning but Vlad seemed distressed. “Since when have I become such a klutz?” Vlad grumbled under his breath.

Danny just continued walking over to the basement, neither of the boys noticing as he disappeared from the living room. He climbed down the stairs the only light being an eerie green glow coating the room in an unnatural lighting. He gazed into the portal finding it not only active but open as well. He’s tried everything but the doors became jammed when he tore the hinges apart getting Vlad out of it. He placed a hand against his temple letting out a frustrated sigh. It poses a rather large threat but hes been focused on more important things as of late. He looked over to his desk, papers cluttering it with a microscope being the center of attention. He walked over to his research and frowned. He’d been studying the boys DNA but really he can’t determine much more than a few traits he’d consider common to most ghosts. Surely the kid will end up showing more signs as time goes on. Hopefully he won’t blow his cover spectacularly in the process but he has faith in Vlad with that regard. Nonetheless the moment Vlad does find his ghost half he’ll have to make an appearance..


End file.
